An Elegy, to the Memory of a poor Old Man.

St. James Chronicle (23 May 1771).

An imitation of Gray's Elegy in seventeen elegiac quatrains signed "W. P., Malling, April 29, 1771." The poem depicts the character of Colin, a virtuous cottager who pines and dies after the decease of his friend Philander. The poet boldly skirts the sentimental bathos: "His uninstructed muse, with wild essay, | Thy pleasures, Solitude! has often sung; | Smile not, ye learned, if the death of Tray | Gave lays pathetic to his master's tongue." The complete title is given as "An Elegy, to the Memory of a poor Old Man, who lived and died an Honour to his Species, in the most inviolable Obscurity."

A different text of this popular elegy was printed three years later in the Gentleman's Magazine. While the other newspapers neglected Perfect's initials in this instance, they would very shortly become very familiar to readers of periodical verse. He contributed several other items to the St. James Chronicle about this time.